In the first book of the New Testament called ‘Matthew’ there’s a verse in a crucial part called the Sermon on the Mount. Matthew 5:13 is well known among Christians with many a sermon spoken on the passage. Usually the common themes revolve around the danger of one losing their ‘saltiness’ through evil culture or company that may corrupt moral virtues. Pursuing authentic law abiding Christianity in an effort to preserve and influence the decaying world, a certain “us vs. them” mentality, becomes priority one.
This perspective completely misses the point.
You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?
Very simply, salt is used to save meat.
Salt isn’t set apart. It is immersed, literally smushed in and covered over meat. The metaphor, I think, has to do with a notion of being leaders/participants in culture, but more importantly, countercultural in the things that matter.
The things that matter begin and end with Jesus.
The early Christians were set apart for doing ridiculous things like standing up for the poor, valuing women more highly than anyone else, creating a culture of humility, love, and justice.
That’s a far cry to many Christians today who set themselves apart by the movies they don’t watch, the people they don’t associate with, the wealth and health they are blessed with, the petitions they support, how many times they go to church, how important a vengeful God is in their theology, or how often they read their bible….
Where do you sit?
What are you going to do about it?